Media storage systems are commonly used to store data cartridges at known locations and to retrieve the desired data cartridges so that data may be written to and/or read from the data cartridges. Such media storage systems are often referred to as autochangers or library storage systems.
A typical autochanger or media storage system may include one or more different types of cartridge-receiving devices. For example, one type of cartridge-receiving device may comprise an individual cartridge storage location (e.g., for holding a single data cartridge) or a storage rack or “magazine” (e.g., for holding a plurality of data cartridges). Another type of cartridge-receiving device may comprise one or more cartridge read/write devices for reading data from and/or writing data to data cartridges. Yet another type of cartridge-receiving device is a cartridge-engaging assembly or “picker”. The cartridge-engaging assembly is provided for transporting the data cartridges in the media storage system (e.g., between the storage magazines and the read/write device).
In use, it is often useful to know which type of data cartridge is present in the cartridge-receiving device. For example, if a linear tape open (LTO) data cartridge is being retrieved for a read/write operation, it may be necessary to deliver the data cartridge to a read/write device designed for LTO data cartridges. Alternatively, if a digital linear tape (DLT) or super digital linear tape (SDLT) data cartridge is being retrieved for a read/write operation, it may be necessary to deliver the data cartridge to different read/write devices designed for either the DLT or SDLT data cartridges. Current approaches rely on separation of the different types of data cartridges in separate media storage systems.